Event indications of hazardous environment luminaires using visual sequences

ABSTRACT

A luminaire whose primary operation is to provide ambient or focused lighting in a hazardous environment is further configured to communicate, within the hazardous environment, alert and/or detected events or conditions via visual sequences. Different visual sequences uniquely identify respective alerts and/or detected conditions, which may include conditions occurring at the luminaire and/or conditions occurring within the hazardous environment. Different visual sequences are defined by respective blink sequences stored in a blink sequence library at the luminaire. Blink sequences are configurable, are distinguished by different amplitudes, frequencies, duty cycles, and other energization/de-energization waveform characteristics, and are applied to one or more illumination sources of the luminaire to thereby generate corresponding visual sequences in the hazardous environment. Visual sequences generated by hazardous environment luminaires allow personnel within the hazardous environment to be informed or alerted to critical conditions upon their occurrences, even without the use of a portable computing device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Indian Patent Application No.201921035199, which was filed on Aug. 31, 2019 and entitled “EventIndications of Hazardous Environment Luminaires Using Visual Sequences,”the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to luminaires, lighting units, and lightfixtures that are disposed in hazardous environments, such asintrinsically safe and/or explosion proof luminaires, lighting units,and light fixtures that provide ambient, task, and/or focused lightwithin hazardous environments.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided within this document is for thepurpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work ofthe presently named inventors, to the extent described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Intrinsically safe and/or explosion proof luminaires, lighting units,and light fixtures provide general, ambient light and/or task or focusedlight within hazardous environments such as industrial process plants,manufacturing facilities, oil refineries, power-generating systems,mines, and the like. As such, intrinsically safe and/or explosion proofluminaires, lighting units, and light fixtures must comply with allstandards and/or regulatory rules that are applicable to the particularhazardous environment in which they are disposed, e.g., to preventignition and/or explosion of hazardous atmospheric mixtures such asflammable gases and/or dust, to protect electronics within the luminairefrom being compromised or damaged, to contain any explosion that mayoccur, etc. Such luminaires may be rated by Class, Division, and Group.For example, a Class 1, Division 1, Group D, E, and F is a commonlyrequired rating for products that are located in hazardous environmentswithin the petrochemical industry, in which flammable vapors may bepresent. Generally speaking, intrinsically safe and/or explosion proofluminaires, lighting units, and light fixtures are designed to limitundesirable and/or dangerous effects of thermal and/or electrical energygenerated during both their normal use and maintenance, as well asduring fault conditions. For ease of reading, intrinsically safe and/orexplosion proof luminaires, lighting units, and/or light fixtures thatare located in hazardous environments are generically referred to hereinas “hazardous environment (HE) luminaires, lighting units, and/or lightfixtures”, and/or simply as “luminaires, lighting units, and/or lightfixtures.”

Known hazardous environment luminaires, lighting units, and lightfixtures, though, typically are not able to autonomously andindependently communicate detected critical events or alerts inreal-time (or in near real-time) to a user who is located within thehazardous environment without requiring and/or utilizing significantresources.

For example, some luminaires utilize a wireless communication interfaceto communicate detected events to portable computing devices operated byusers who are located proximate to or within the environment of theluminaires. In some arrangements, a luminaire sends wirelesstransmissions that include alert and/or event information directly to auser's portable computing device via some wireless communicationprotocol such as Bluetooth or other short-range protocol, Wi-Fi,WirelessHART, or other wireless communication protocol. In otherarrangements, the luminaire sends, via a wireless communication network,wireless transmissions that include alert and/or event information to ahost computer or back-end system for processing and forwarding to theuser's portable computing device via the wireless communication network.Known wired techniques for communicating alert and/or event informationfrom a luminaire include requiring the user to physically connect aphysical cable or line between a port of the user's portable computingdevice and a port of the luminaire to thereby provide a channel forcommunicating alert/event information, or requiring the luminaire tosend alert/event information via wired transmissions over a wiredcommunication network to a host computer or back-end system (e.g., byusing a wired communication protocol such as HART, Ethernet, or otherwired communication protocol), and subsequently having the hostcomputer/back-end system forward or otherwise communicate the content ofthe received alert/event in wireless manner to the portable computingdevice operated by the user (e.g., via Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, etc. over awireless communication network).

However, some of these alerting communication techniques, such as thosethat require a user's portable computing device to utilize Bluetooth orWi-Fi, are not compliant with hazardous environment standards andregulations, and therefore may not be utilized within hazardousenvironments. Other wireless alert communication techniques that rely onwireless communication networks are not able to communicate criticalalerts and events to user's portable computing device when the wirelessnetwork is not operational or is compromised (e.g., due to interference,faults, etc.), when the user's portable computing device is not withinwireless range of a wireless access point, and/or when the user'sportable computing device is itself compromised. Further, after aluminaire has been installed at roof height or at some other substantialheight, and/or when access to an installed luminaire is obstructed byprocess plant or other physical equipment, it may be extremely difficultor even impossible for a user to gain access to a port of the luminaireto be able to physically plug in a wired communication cable or line forthe reception of alerts, let alone to do so in a timely manner after theoccurrence of a fault or event. Still further, requiring wired and/orwireless networks to be purchased, installed, configured, and maintainedin order for an alert signal to be sent and received by users locatedwithin the hazardous environment of the luminaires not only incurssignificant capital and person-hour expense, but also utilizessignificant bandwidth, processor, and other limited computing and/orcommunication resources of the installed communication system(s).

Another known technique that enables portable computing devices operatedby users located within hazardous environments to receive alert andevent information utilizes Visual Light Communication (VLC), atechnology in which visible spectrum is modulated to transmit data athigh frequencies, e.g., 780-375 nanometers or tens of KHz. VLCtechniques, though, require VLC-capable transceivers to be installed atthe user's portable computing device so that the user's device is ableto decode VLC signals, thus adding additional weight, complexity, andcost to the user's device, as well as consuming a significant portion ofthe limited processing, memory, and power resources of the user'sdevice. Further, in arrangements in which the luminaire self-reportsalerts using VLC transmissions, such VLC-capable transceivers must alsobe installed and maintained at the luminaire itself. Still further, VLCtechniques are not effective when line-of-sight between a luminaire anda user's portable computing device is obstructed, e.g., by plantequipment, environmental particles, and the like.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and techniques disclosed herein relate to ahazardous environment (HE) luminaire, lighting unit, or light fixturedisposed in a hazardous environment. During its normal run-timeoperations, embodiments of the disclosed HE luminaire, lighting unit, orlight fixture radiates general or ambient light and/or task or focusedlight into the hazardous environment. Advantageously, the disclosed HEluminaire, lighting unit, or light fixture is also configured toautonomously and independently communicate various alert and/or eventinformation to a user (e.g., a person) who is located within thehazardous environment. In fact, the HE luminaire, lighting unit, orlight fixture may communicate various alert and/or event information tothe user within the hazardous environment in real-time (e.g., upondetection of the occurrence of an event and/or upon detection of acondition that corresponds to an alert) without the HE luminaire,lighting unit, or light fixture being required to be connected to anycommunication network, without requiring a portable computing deviceoperated by user to be configured with specialized transceivers, withoutrequiring the user's portable computing device to be positioned withinthe wireless range of the luminaire or of a wireless access point, andwithout requiring the user's portable computing device to be positionedin line-of-sight of the disclosed luminaire, lighting unit, or lightfixture. Indeed, a user located within the hazardous environment doesnot even need a portable computing device at all for the user to receivealert and/or event information from the disclosed HE luminaire, lightingunit, or light fixture.

In particular, embodiments of the disclosed hazardous environment (HE)luminaire, lighting unit, or light fixture may indicate each specificalert or occurrence of a specific event or condition by generating arespective visual sequence that uniquely identifies the alert orevent/condition. The term “visual sequence,” as utilized herein,generally refers to an ordered sequence of illuminations that arevisible to or perceivable by the human eye, and that may be generated bythe HE luminaire by varying the energizations and de-energizations ofits on-board illumination source or sources. Each visual sequence orordered sequence of illuminations uniquely identifies an occurrence of arespective event or condition, or a respective alert. A visual sequencemay be continuously repeated over time in a pattern, if desired. The HElighting unit may generate (e.g., radiate) different visual sequences byenergizing and de-energizing (e.g., by energizing and not energizing, byactivating and deactivating) one or more on-board illumination sourcesaccording to different blink sequences. Each blink sequence may define arespective combination of frequencies, amplitudes, duty cycles,intensities, and/or other characteristics ofenergizations/de-energizations of the one or more illumination sourcesof the HE luminaire, and different blink sequences may be differentiatedor distinguished based on their respective combinations of frequencies,amplitudes, duty cycles, intensities, and/or other characteristics ofenergizations/de-energizations.

In an embodiment, a luminaire disposed in a hazardous environmentincludes one or more drivers coupled to one or more illuminationsources, one or more processors coupled to the one or more drivers, andone or more memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions.The set of computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the luminaire to detect an occurrence, within thehazardous environment, of a particular event included in a plurality ofevents; determine a particular blink sequence identifying the event, theparticular blink sequence included in a plurality of blink sequences;and cause the one or more drivers to energize the one or moreillumination sources in accordance with the particular blink sequence,thereby causing the luminaire to generate an visual sequence indicativeof the occurrence of the particular event. Additionally, the luminaireincludes one or more hazardous location enclosures in which the one ormore illumination sources, the one or more drivers, the one or moreprocessors, and the one or more memories are disposed.

In an embodiment, a luminaire disposed in a hazardous environmentincludes a blink sequence library stored in one or more memories anddefining a plurality of blink sequences, where each blink sequenceidentifies a respective event of a plurality of events. The luminaireadditionally includes an alerting unit, where the alerting unit includesa set of computer-executable instructions stored on the one or morememories. When the set of computer-executable instructions of thealerting unit are executed by one or more processors, the alerting unitcauses the luminaire to: detect an occurrence, within the hazardousenvironment, of a particular event included in a plurality of events;access the blink sequence library to determine a particular blinksequence identifying the particular event; and instruct one or moredrivers to energize one or more illumination sources included in theluminaire in accordance with the particular blink sequence, therebycausing the luminaire to generate a visual sequence indicative of theoccurrence of the particular event. The luminaire additionally includesone or more hazardous location enclosures that surround or enclose theone or more memories, the one or more processors, the one or moredrivers, and the one or more illumination sources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example hazardous environment lightingunit, light fixture, or luminaire that communicates alert and/or eventindications using visual sequences.

FIG. 2A illustrates example blink sequences which may be applied to asingle illumination source of a hazardous environment luminaire, orwhich may be simultaneously applied to a group of illumination sourcesof a hazardous environment luminaire that behave as a single, integralillumination source to generate respective visual sequences.

FIG. 2B illustrates example coordinated blink sequences which may beapplied to multiple illumination sources of a hazardous environmentluminaire that behave as distinct, different illumination sources togenerate respective visual sequences.

FIG. 3 depicts an example hazardous environment in which the hazardousenvironment lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire of FIG. 1 may belocated or disposed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example hazardous environment lightingunit, light lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire 100 that providesalert and/or event indications, within a hazardous environment, usingvisual sequences. The terms “lighting unit”, “light fixture”, and“luminaire” are utilized interchangeably herein to refer to anelectrically powered group of components that operates to supply generalor ambient light and/or task or focused light in the portion of theelectromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye, e.g., fromabout 380 to 740 nanometers. The luminaire 100 is disposed within ahazardous environment 100, such as an industrial process plant, amanufacturing facility, an oil refinery, a power-generating system, amine, etc. As such, the luminaire 100 is a hazardous environment (HE)luminaire that is compliant with any (and in some cases, all) standardsand/or regulations governing its configuration, installation, and usagewithin the hazardous environment. That is, the luminaire 100 complieswith standard and/or regulated thermal and electrical limits so as tolimit the energy generated by the luminaire 100 that is available forpotential ignition and/or explosion within the hazardous environment.Further, the HE luminaire 100 includes at least one hazardous locationenclosure or housing 102 in which its components are typically disposedor enclosed. For example, the hazardous location enclosure or housing102 may be explosion-proof, flame-proof, water-proof, sealed,hermetically sealed, dust ignition protected, etc. In some embodimentsof the luminaire 100 (not shown in FIG. 1), a single luminaire 100 mayinclude multiple hazardous location enclosures or housings 102, each ofwhich surrounds a different subset of components of the luminaire 100;however, for ease of reading herein (and not for limitation purposes)the hazardous location enclosure or housing 102 is referred to using thesingular tense. Moreover, at least one portion 105 of the hazardouslocation enclosure or housing 102 is at least partly transparent orvisible light-permeable, so that illumination or light generated by oneor more illumination sources IL-1 to IL-n (corresponding to references108 a-108 n in FIG. 1) of the luminaire 100 is able to radiate into thehazardous environment. The illumination sources 108 a-108 n may be anysuitable type of illumination source that generates visible light, e.g.,incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, metal halide, xenon, LEDs (lightemitting diodes), etc.

In FIG. 1, the luminaire 100 includes one or more processors 110, one ormore drivers 112 (e.g., drivers for illuminations sources), and one ormore illumination sources 108 a-108 n that are enclosed in, surroundedby, and/or otherwise protected by the hazardous location enclosure 102.Generally speaking, the one or more processors 110 instruct the one ormore drivers 112 to energize or activate the one or more illuminationsources 108 a-108 n, e.g., individually or independently, and/or as aset or group in a coordinated manner. For example, the one or moreprocessors 110 may instruct the one or more drivers 112 to energize oractivate the one or more illumination sources 108 a-108 n based on or inaccordance with instructions and/or information provided by an alertingunit 115 of the luminaire 100. The alerting unit 115 may include a setof computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one ormore processors 110 and that are stored on the one or more memories 118of the luminaire 100, where the one or more memories 118 are, forexample, one or more tangible, non-transitory memories, components, ordata storage devices. The one or more memories 118 may also store ablink sequence library 120 that defines relationships between each eventor condition of a plurality of events/conditions and a respective blinksequence that uniquely identifies the each event or condition. In somearrangements, the one or more memories 118 may also store other data 122that is accessible to the one or more processors 110 and/or othercomputer-executable instructions 125 that are executable by the one ormore processors 110 to cause luminaire 100 perform other operations inaddition to providing alert and/or event indications using blink orvisual sequences. For example, the other computer-executableinstructions 125 may be executable by the one or more processors 110 tocause the luminaire 100 to perform its run-time lighting operations, tocommunicate with other luminaires and/or with a back-end server (e.g.,wirelessly) to coordinate lighting functions across a group ofluminaires, to execute diagnostic and/or maintenance operations, etc.

Generally speaking, the alerting unit 115 may cause the luminaire 100 todetect an occurrence, within the hazardous environment, of a particularevent included in a plurality of events. The alerting unit 115 mayaccess the blink sequence library 120 to determine a particular blinksequence that is defined to identify the particular event, and mayinstruct the one or more drivers 112 to energize/de-energize the one ormore illumination sources 118 a-118 n in accordance with the particularblink sequence to thereby cause the luminaire 100 to generate or radiatethe corresponding visual sequence of illuminations. The visual sequenceof illuminations generated by the luminaire 100 thereby alerts users orpersonnel, who are located within the hazardous environment and who areable to perceive the visual sequence, of the occurrence of the detectedevent or condition.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrences aredetectable by the luminaire 100 include diagnostic and/or maintenanceoperation statuses and/or results. For example, while the luminaire 100is undergoing a particular diagnostic operation or a particularmaintenance operation (e.g., is autonomously self-executing theparticular diagnostic or maintenance operation), various blink sequencesmay identify the different stages of the diagnostic and/or maintenanceoperation execution. Other blink sequences may identify differentresults of completed diagnostic and/or maintenance operations.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrences aredetectable by the luminaire 100 include faults, errors, and/or alertconditions related to the luminaire 100, its components, and/or itsrun-time operations. For example, the alerting unit 115 may receive asignal from another component of the luminaire 100 indicating theoccurrence of a fault, error, or other alert condition, and the alertingunit 115 may determine the corresponding blink sequence from the blinksequence library 120 for generating the particular visual sequence thatis indicative of the occurrence of the fault, error, or other alertcondition. Examples of possible faults, errors, or other alertconditions corresponding to components and/or run-time operations of theluminaire 100 which may be indicated by visual sequences include a lowback-up battery level, a software fault, a hardware or electronicsfault, an expected lifetime of a particular illumination source fallingbelow a predefined level, an overheating and/or failure of somecomponent, an unexpected message received via a communication port ofthe luminaire 100, and/or other faults, errors, and/or alert conditions.

In some embodiments, the luminaire 100 is communicatively connected toone or more networks via one or more communication interfaces 128 a-128m. For example, the luminaire 100 may be communicatively connected to awireless network via a first communication interface (COM1) 128 a and/ormay be communicatively connected to a wired network via a secondcommunication interface (COMm) 128 m. As such, the luminaire 100 may bea node of a wireless network and/or may be a node of a wired network.Each of the wireless and/or wired networks may include one or more othernodes such as, for example, a back-end computer, controller, or serverthat is disposed in a non-hazardous environment or otherwise is shieldedfrom the harsh conditions of the hazardous environment. Other examplesof nodes which may be included in the wireless and/or wired network mayinclude, in some configurations, one or more other luminaires, sensors,and other devices disposed within the hazardous environment. At anyrate, in embodiments in which the luminaire 100 is a node of a wirelessnetwork and/or of a wired network, different blink sequences may bedefined to indicate different detected conditions that affect thecommunicative connectivity of the luminaire 100 to other nodes via theone or more networks. For example, different blink sequences maycorrespond to the luminaire 100 being unable to detect the presence ofan expected wireless network at the COM1 interface 128 a, and/or thepresence of interference within the wireless network above apre-determined level. Different blink sequences may correspond to theluminaire 100 being unable to communicate with a controller, backendserver, a wireless gateway, another luminaire, or some other node eventhough the luminaire 100 has an active and operational networkconnection via the wireless COM1 interface 128 a and/or via the wiredCOM2 interface 128 m. Different blink sequences may correspond to theluminaire 100 detecting that it has been dropped from the wirelessnetwork or from the wired network. Of course, other blink sequencescorresponding to other connectivity conditions may be additionally oralternatively defined in the blink sequence library 120.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrences aredetectable by the luminaire 100 include sensed events or detectedconditions. For example, the luminaire 100 may include one or moreon-board sensors 130 and/or may be communicatively connected to one ormore off-board sensors (e.g., sensors that are not enclosed within thehazardous location housing 102 but are nonetheless communicativelyconnected to the luminaire 100 via one or more of the communicationinterfaces 128 a-128 m, not shown in FIG. 1), such as motion sensors,light sensors, cameras, vibration sensors, temperature sensors,particulate sensors, pressure sensors, heat sensors, etc. Each sensormay respectively detect an occurrence of a specific type of event orcondition, and may transmit a signal indicative of the occurrence of thespecific type of event or condition to the alerting unit 115.

For some sensed events, the alerting unit 115 may automatically indicatean occurrence each time the alerting unit 115 is notified by the sensor.For other sensed events, the alerting unit 115 may determine whether anoccurrence of a sensed event is an expected event or is an unexpectedevent. For example, when a motion sensor 128 of the luminaire 100detects a movement in a certain area of the hazardous environment, themotion sensor 128 may transmit an electronic signal indicative of thedetected movement to the alerting unit 115, and the alerting unit 115may determine whether or not the movement is an expected movement. Forexample, if plant personnel are not expected to be located within thecertain area the hazardous environment at the time that the movement isdetected by the sensor 128, the alerting unit 115 may determine that themovement is an unexpected movement, and thus is an occurrence of aparticular event that is to be indicated by the luminaire 100.

At any rate, upon detecting the occurrence of an event or conditionwithin the hazardous environment, the alerting unit 115 accesses theblink sequence library 120 to determine the specific blink sequence thatis indicative of the occurrence of the detected event/condition.Subsequently, the alerting unit 115 instructs, via the one or moreprocessors 110, the one or more drivers 112 to energize/de-energize(e.g., activate/deactivate) the one or more of the illumination sources108 a-108 n in accordance with the specific blink sequence, therebycausing the luminaire 100 to generate the specific visual sequence thatis indicative of the occurrence of the detected event/condition. As theillumination sources 108 a-108 n of the luminaire 100 radiate visiblelight through the at least partially transparent portion 105 of thehazardous location enclosure 102, any users, people, or personnel whoare at locations within the hazardous environment at which they are ableto see or perceive the visual sequence generated by the illuminationsources 108 a-108 n are thereby informed by the luminaire 100 of theoccurrence of the detected event/condition.

Turning to the blink sequence library 120 in particular, as previouslymentioned, the blink sequence library 120 stores definitions orindications of a plurality of blink sequences, each of which uniquelyidentifies a respective alert or an occurrence of a respective event orcondition of a plurality of events or conditions, at least some of whichare directly detectable by the luminaire 100. Different blink sequencesmay be distinguished from other blink sequences by differentcombinations of cycle frequencies, duty cycles, amplitudes and/orintensities (e.g., different levels of high (HI)/low (LO), and/or othercharacteristics.

FIG. 2A illustrates example blink sequences 202-210 which may be storedin the blink sequence library 120 and applied to a single illuminationsource, such as one of the illumination sources 108 a-108 n of FIG. 1.For example, the alerting unit 115 may instruct one of the drivers 112to energize and de-energize one of the illumination sources 118 a inaccordance with one of the example blink sequences 202-210, therebycausing the luminaire 100 to generate a corresponding visual sequence.

In blink sequence 202, the amplitude of the energizations varies between0% (LO) and 100% (HI) per cycle over time, and the duty cycle of theblink sequence 202 is 50%. In blink sequence 205, while the amplitude ofthe energizations varies between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) and the dutycycle is 50%, the frequency of the blink sequence 205 is half of thefrequency of the blink sequence 202.

In blink sequence 208, the duty cycle is maintained at 50% and thefrequency is the same as the frequency of blink sequence 202. However,in blink sequence 208, the amplitude of the energizations varies between50% (LO) and 100% (HI). That is, the range of intensities of the blinksequence 208 (e.g., from 50% to 100%) is less than a maximum range ofintensities (e.g., from 0% to 100%) of the illumination source. As such,the visual sequence corresponding to the blink sequence 208 results in ablinking dimming of the illumination source rather than a blinkingon/off of the illumination source. As such, the visual sequencecorresponding to the blink sequence 208 may have a smoother or moredamped visual effect than the visual sequence corresponding to the blinksequence 202, and thus may cause less visual discomfort and/orirritation to personnel located within the hazardous environment 300.

In blink sequence 210, the amplitude of the energizations varies between0% (LO) and 100% (HI) (e.g., an on/off blink sequence), however, theduty cycle of the blink sequence 210 is 80%.

Of course, other blink sequences which are applicable to a singleillumination source may be stored in the blink sequence library 120. Insome configurations, blink sequences that are applicable to singleillumination source may be simultaneously applied to a group ofillumination sources, thereby causing the group of illumination sourcesto behave as a single, integral illumination source.

In some implementations, the blink sequence library 120 may store blinksequences that are coordinated blink sequences. A coordinated blinksequence may include multiple individual blink sequences that execute incoordination over time, where each of the individual blink sequence isapplied to a different illumination source 118 a-118 n. For example, afirst individual blink sequence of a coordinated blink sequence may beapplied to a first illumination source 118 a, and a second individualblink sequence of the coordinated blink sequence may be applied to asecond illumination source 118 m, where the first and second blinksequences are different blink sequences that are coordinated in theirexecutions over time. For a coordinated blink sequence, the alertingunit 115 may instruct one or more of the drivers 112 to energize andde-energize two or more of the illumination sources 118 a-118 n in acoordinated manner. FIG. 2B illustrates two example coordinated blinksequences 212, 218 which may be applied to two illumination sources ofthe luminaire 100.

In the coordinated blink sequence 212, a first individual blink sequence215 a corresponds to a first illumination source of the luminaire 100being energized/de-energized over time (e.g., by a first driver 112)between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) at a particular frequency, e.g., at afrequency that is perceivable by the human eye. Simultaneously, a secondindividual blink sequence 215 b corresponds to a second illuminationsource of the luminaire 100 being energized/de-energized over time(e.g., by the first driver or by a second driver 112) at the samefrequency as the first individual blink sequence 215 a. The firstindividual blink sequence 215 a and the second individual blink sequence215 b are coordinated over time so that peak amplitude at the secondillumination source occurs at the trough amplitude of the firstillumination source, and vice versa.

In the coordinated blink sequence 218, a first individual blink sequence220 a corresponds to a first illumination source of the luminaire 100being energized/de-energized over time (e.g., by a first driver 112)between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) at a particular frequency. Simultaneously,a second individual blink sequence 220 b corresponds to a secondillumination source of the luminaire 100 being energized/de-energizedover time (e.g., by the first driver or by as second driver 112) at afrequency that is half of the frequency of the first individual blinksequence 220 a.

Of course, other coordinated blink sequences which are applicable to twoor more illumination sources in a coordinated manner over time may bestored in the blink sequence library 120 and applied to multipleillumination sources to thereby indicate respective alerts and/ordetected events/conditions.

One or more of the individual and/or coordinated blink sequences thatare stored in the library 120 may be defined to execute continuously andperiodically over time, e.g., in a manner such as illustrated in FIGS.2A and 2B. For some of the blink sequences that are defined to executecontinuously, the range of intensities that are radiated may be reducedto be less than the maximum range of intensities of the illuminationsource(s), e.g., to reduce visual discomfort of personnel within thehazardous environment. However, some continuously executed blinksequences may be defined to execute across the maximum range ofintensities of the illumination source(s), e.g., to identifyparticularly critical events and/or conditions.

In some embodiments, one or more of the individual and/or coordinatedblink sequences stored in the library 120 may be defined to executeperiodically, but not continuously over time. That is, a blink sequencemay be executed for a first portion of a periodic time interval, and maynot be executed for the remainder of the periodic time interval. Forexample, the luminaire 100 may execute a blink sequence during the firstminute of a periodically repeating ten minute interval, and during theremaining nine minutes of the ten minute interval, the luminaire 100 maynot execute the blink sequence, and may instead execute its run-timelighting operations, e.g., operations to provide ambient or focusedlight to the hazardous environment, diagnostic operations, maintenanceoperations, and/or other run-time operations.

FIG. 3 depicts an example hazardous environment 300 in which a hazardousenvironment (HE) lighting unit, light fixture or luminaire 301 may belocated. For example, the HE luminaire 301 of FIG. 3 may be anembodiment of the HE luminaire 100. For ease of discussion (and not forlimitation purposes), FIG. 3 is discussed below in conjunction withreference numbers included in FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the luminaire 301 is a node of a wirelessnetwork 302 of the hazardous environment 300, where the wireless network302 includes other nodes such as other luminaires 305, 308 and awireless gateway 310 which communicatively interconnects the wirelessnetwork 302 and a wired network 312 associated with the hazardousenvironment 300. The wired network 312 includes a wired backbone 315(e.g., which may be Ethernet, broadband, fiber optic, or any suitabletype of wired backbone) to which a back-end server, host, controller,computing device, and/or group of computing devices behaving as a singlelogical server or host 318 is communicatively connected. The host 318may be implemented by an individual computing device, by one or morecontrollers and/or systems associated with the hazardous environment(such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), distributed controlsystem (DCS), or other type of industrial process control system), by abank of servers, by a computing cloud, or by any suitable arrangement ofone or more computing devices. The host 318 may service nodes of thewired network 312 and/or nodes of the wireless network 302. For example,the host 318 may provide (e.g., via download or other mechanism)configuration and/or operating instructions 125 and/or data 122 (e.g.,that correspond to governing or controlling run-time lighting,diagnostic, maintenance, and/or other operations) to one or more nodesof the network(s) 302, 312, such as one or more of the luminaires 301,305, 308, and/or other nodes. Further, the host 318 may provideinstructions and/or data that are related to generating alerting visualsequences to one or more luminaires 301, 305, 308, e.g., via download orother suitable mechanism. For example, the host 318 may provide at leasta portion of the blink sequence library 120 and/or the alerting unit 115to the HE luminaire 301.

Wired network 312 also includes a user computing device 320 which iscommunicatively connected via the backbone 315. The server 318 and theuser computing device 320 may be disposed or located in one or moreremote or enclosed locations 322 that protect the server 318 and theuser computing device 320 from the harsh conditions of the hazardousenvironment 300. In some arrangements (not shown in FIG. 3), theprotected user computing device 320 may be communicatively connected tothe wired backbone 315 via a wireless link and access point, where theaccess point is communicatively connected in a wired manner to thebackbone 315. A user 325 may utilize the computing device 320 toconfigure, modify, and/or otherwise provide instructions and/or datautilized by and/or stored at the host 318, and/or to view data andinformation provided by other devices and/or nodes via the wired network312 and/or the wireless network 302 corresponding to the hazardousenvironment 300. For example, via the user computing device 320, theuser 325 may add, delete, and/or modify various blink sequences of theblink sequence library 120, and/or may indicate which particular blinksequences correspond to which particular HE luminaires 301, 305, 308within the hazardous environment 300.

The wired network 312 and the wireless network 302 may be in compliancewith applicable hazardous environment standards and regulations. Forexample, the wireless network 302 may utilize Wi-Fi, WirelessHART,and/or one or more other communication protocols that are suitable for(e.g., is in compliance with all regulations and standards that areapplicable to) the hazardous environment 300, and devices of thenetworks 302, 312 that are located at least partially within thehazardous environment 300 (e.g., the luminaires 301, 305, 308, thewireless gateway 310, and the backbone 315) may similarly comply withall applicable hazardous environment standards and regulations thatpertain to the hazardous environment 300.

The example hazardous environment 300 depicted in FIG. 3 includes asensor 328 which is communicatively connected to the luminaire 301 via awireless link 330. The wireless link 330 may be included in the wirelessnetwork 302, or the wireless link 330 may be a short-range or other typeof wireless link 330 that is excluded from the wireless network 302 anddirectly connects the sensor 328 with the luminaire 301. In someembodiments (not shown in FIG. 3), the sensor 328 may be communicativelyconnected to the luminaire 301 in a wired manner that is compliant withapplicable hazardous environment standards and regulations. In someembodiments (not shown in FIG. 3), the sensor 328 may be included inand/or integral to the luminaire 301, such as the sensor 130 of FIG. 1.The sensor 328 may be any type of sensor such as a motion sensor, acamera or other type of light sensor, a vibration sensor, a temperaturesensor, a particulate sensor, a pressure sensor, a heat sensor, etc.

As further depicted in FIG. 3, the example hazardous environment 300includes a portable computing device 332 that is operated by a user 335within the hazardous environment 300. The portable computing device 332is compliant with hazardous environment standards and regulationsapplicable to the hazardous environment 300. For example, the portablecomputing device 332 may be configured to communicate with the luminaire301 and/or with other nodes of the wireless network 302 using aWirelessHART protocol or some other protocol that is suitable for (e.g.,is in compliance with all regulations and standards that are applicableto) the hazardous environment 300. The portable computing device 332 maybe any type of wireless or mobile computing device, such as a laptop,tablet, smart phone, smart device, wearable computing device (e.g.,virtual reality device, headset, or other body-borne device), etc. Theportable computing device 332 may or may not be a node of the wirelessnetwork 302.

In some embodiments, the portable computing device 332 is a server,host, controller, computing device, and/or group of computing devicesbehaving as a single logical server or host that services the nodes ofthe wireless network 302. For example, the host 332 may provide (e.g.,via download or other mechanism) configuration and/or operationalinstructions 125 and/or data 122 (e.g., that correspond to governing orcontrolling run-time lighting, diagnostic, maintenance, and/or otheroperations) to one or more nodes of the wireless network 302, such as toone or more of the luminaires 301, 305, 308. Further, the host 332 mayprovide instructions and/or data that are related to generating visualsequences to one or more HE luminaires 301, 305, 308, e.g., via downloador other suitable mechanism. For example, the host 332 may provide atleast a portion of the blink sequence library 120 and/or the alertingunit 115 to the HE luminaire 301. A user 335 may utilize a userinterface of the host 332 to configure, modify, and/or otherwise provideinstructions and/or data stored at the host 332, and/or to view data andinformation provided by other devices and/or nodes via the wirelessnetwork 302 corresponding to the hazardous environment 300. For example,the user 335 may add, delete, and/or modify various blink sequences ofthe blink sequence library 120 and/or may indicate which particularblink sequences correspond to which particular HE luminaires 301, 305,308 via a user interface of the host 332.

Generally speaking, a user 325, 335 may utilize one or more of the userinterface computing devices 320, 332 to manage a master or systemversion of the blink sequence library 120 that is stored at the host318, 332 and its utilization within the hazardous environment 300. Forexample, as discussed above, the user 325, 335 may add, delete, and/ormodify various blink sequences stored in the blink sequence library 120.In some implementations, the user 325, 335 may define which particularlibrary blink sequences are (and/or are not) to be delivered to whichparticular luminaires 301, 305, 308. Additionally or alternatively, theuser 325, 335 may indicate which blink sequences that have beendelivered to and are resident at the luminaire 301 are to be activatedand/or suppressed, e.g., so that the user 325, 335 is informed of onlythe occurrences of events that are of interest to the user 325, 335.

Several example scenarios which may occur in the hazardous environment300 illustrate the advantages and benefits of embodiments of thehazardous environment luminaire 301 configured to communicate orindicate alerts and other detected events or conditions by using visualsequences. In a first example scenario, the luminaire 301 is executing adiagnostic operation or a maintenance operation, and generatesrespective visual sequences in accordance with various stages of thediagnostic or maintenance operation as the luminaire 301 proceedsthrough the stages, thereby informing the user 335 located within thehazardous environment 300 of the progress of the executingdiagnostic/maintenance operation. Upon completion or abortion of thediagnostic or maintenance operation, the luminaire 301 generates avisual sequence that is indicative of a result of the completed oraborted diagnostic or maintenance operation. This first example scenariois particularly useful when the luminaire 301 is a standalone mode, andis not connected to either the wireless network 302 or to the wirednetwork 312. In these situations, the user 335 may be easily and timelyinformed of diagnostic/maintenance operation statuses and results merelyby visually perceiving the visual sequences, and does not even need aportable computing device 332 to do so.

In a second example scenario, the luminaire 301 detects a fault,failure, error, and/or sub-optimal performance of one of its componentsor run-time lighting operations. Accordingly, the luminaire 301generates the identifying visual sequence to indicate the detectedfault, failure, error, or sub-optimal performance of thecomponent/run-time operation of the luminaire 301. This second examplescenario is also particularly useful when the luminaire 301 is astandalone mode and not connected to either the wireless network 302 orto the wired network 312. In these situations, the user 335 may beinformed of the detected fault, failure, error, and such or sub-optimalperformance of the component/run-time operation at the luminaire 301merely by visually perceiving the visual sequences, and does not evenneed a portable computing device 332 to do so.

In a third example scenario, the luminaire 301 is connected to a sensor328 via a wired or wireless connection as shown in FIG. 3, or theluminaire 301 may include an on-board sensor such as the sensor 130 ofFIG. 1 (not shown in FIG. 3). Upon the sensor 130, 328 detecting orsensing a condition occurring within the hazardous environment 300, thesensor 328 sends a corresponding signal to the luminaire 301, and theluminaire 301 energizes its illumination source(s) 108 a-108 n in avisual sequence that identifies the sensed condition. In someembodiments of this third example scenario, the luminaire 301 generatesthe visual sequence each time the sensor 130, 328 notifies the luminaire301. In some embodiments of this third example scenario, the luminaire301 generates the visual sequence only when the sensed condition isunexpected. For example, when the sensor 130, 328 is a motion sensor,motion that is detected by the sensor 328 during working hours andsignaled to the luminaire 301 may merely cause the luminaire 301 toilluminate normally to provide ambient lighting (e.g., to execute itstypical run-time operations), whereas motion that is detected by thesensor 328 during non-working hours may cause the luminaire 301 togenerate the visual sequence indicating that the sensed motion wasunexpected.

In some scenarios, the luminaire 301 not only provides alerts and/orindications of detected conditions and/or events via visual sequences,but the luminaire 301 also provides additional information relating tothe alert or detected condition/event via one or more othercommunication channels, such as via one or more of the communicationinterfaces 128 a-128 m. For example, the luminaire 301 may generate, viaone or more of its illumination sources 108 a-108 n, a visual sequenceindicating that an unexpected motion has been detected, and may alsosend, via one or more communication interfaces 128 a-128 m, relatedinformation such as an identification of the sensor 130, 328 thatdetected the condition/event, a time of detection, etc., to a host 318or 332 via the wireless network 302 and/or the wired network 312, ordirectly to a user's portable computing device 332 via a direct wirelesslink 338. Other types of useful information that corresponds to thegenerated visual alert may be sent by the luminaire 301 via the one ormore communication interfaces 128 a-128 m to one or more of the hosts318, 332. For example, to continue with the motion sensor example, theluminaire 301 may also send, to the hosts 318 and/or 332, imageinformation captured by a camera sensor and heat information detected bya heat sensor, as well as respective identifications of the camera andthe heat sensor, to thereby identify or aid in identifying a source ofthe motion detected by the sensor 328 (e.g., a person, an animal, apiece of equipment that disengaged, a leaf or other environmentalobject, etc.). In situations in which the detected condition/event isnot related to sensors but is related to other devices or to on-boardcomponents and/or operations, the luminaire 301 may send other types ofrelated information to the hosts 318, 332 via one or more of thecommunication interfaces 128 a-128 m. For example, for certain detectedfaults and/or error conditions detected at the luminaire 301, theluminaire 301 may send identifications of related on-board components,routines, and/or modules, as well as other information such time ofoccurrence, related settings, and the like.

The luminaire 301 may provide particularly useful alert indications whenthe luminaire 301 is a node of the wireless network 302. For example,the luminaire 301 may be one of several luminaires 301, 305, 308 thatare connected via the wireless network 302. The connected luminaires301, 305, 308, may be supported and/or controlled at least partially bya host device 318, e.g. via the wireless gateway 310 and wired backbone315, or the connected luminaires 301, 305, 308 may be supported and/orcontrolled at least partially by a host device 332 that is a node of thewireless network 302. In some situations, the host device 318, 332 mayissue instructions to communicate and/or coordinate run-time operationsamong the set of luminaires 301, 305, 308, e.g., by directlytransmitting commands to each luminaire 301, 305, 308, or by relayingcommands via a chain of luminaires, e.g., by the host device 318 sendinga command to the luminaire 308, which relays the command to theluminaire 305, which in turn relays the command to the luminaire 301. Insome connected lighting situations, a luminaire may autonomouslygenerate a command or message and communicate it to other nodes via thewireless network 302, e.g., via the wireless gateway 310, via one ormore other intermediate nodes of the wireless network 302, and/ordirectly (e.g., point-to-point). For example, the luminaire 301 may beconnected to a motion sensor 328 via a wired or wireless connection, ora sensor 130 may be included in the luminaire 301. Upon the sensor 130,328 detecting a motion within the hazardous environment 300, the sensor328 communicates a corresponding signal to the processor(s) 110 of theluminaire 301, and the luminaire 301 energizes its illumination sourcesin response to receiving the indication of the motion detected by thesensor 130, 328. Additionally, the luminaire 301 may instruct (e.g., viathe wireless network 302, the wireless gateway 310, one or more otherintermediate nodes of the wireless network 302, and/or directly) one ormore other luminaires 305, 308 to energize their respective illuminationsources, e.g., in response to the motion detected by the sensor 130,328.

At any rate, in these and other configurations in which the luminaire301 is a node of the wireless network 302, the luminaire 301 may informpersonnel located within the hazardous environment 300 (e.g., the user335) of various detected status, conditions, and events related to thewireless network 302 by generating respective, identifying visualsequences. For example, the luminaire 301 may indicate, via respectivevisual sequences, that the luminaire 301 is unable to detect thepresence of the wireless network 302; that the luminaire 301 is able todetect the presence of the wireless network 302 but is unable tocommunicate with the host 318 or 332, with another wireless network nodesuch as another luminaire 305, 308, and/or with the wireless gateway310; that the luminaire 301 is detecting wireless interference that isabove a pre-defined threshold; that the luminaire 301 has been droppedor excluded from the wireless network 302; etc.

Accordingly, embodiments of the novel and inventive hazardousenvironment lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire disclosed hereinprovide significant advantages over known techniques for communicatingdetected events and/or alerts to personnel, people, and users who arelocated in the hazardous environment in which the HE lighting unit,light fixture, or luminaire is disposed. For example, personnel who arelocated within the hazardous environment do not need to carry a portablecomputing device in order to be informed of various alert and/ordetected events and/or conditions, let alone need to position theportable computing device to be in line-of-sight of the luminaire orphysically connect the portable computing device to the luminaire, asthe personnel may be informed merely by perceiving the visual sequencesgenerated by the luminaire. Advantageously, forgoing the need to carry aportable computing device within the hazardous environment lowers theoverall risk of ignition, explosion, and/or other undesirable eventsoccurring within the hazardous environment.

Further, personnel who are located within the hazardous environment maybe informed in real-time of alerts and/or detected events/conditionsupon the events'/conditions' respective occurrences, without needing towait for messages to be sent first to the back-end server and then beingsubsequently notified by the back-end server and/or by back-endpersonnel. This benefit is particularly advantageous when criticalalarms or events occur—anyone in the vicinity of the HE lighting unit,light fixture, or luminaire (such as personnel from other areas of theplant, janitors, security guards, etc.) may be able to be easilyinformed of the critical alarm or event via the visual sequencesgenerated by the luminaire and take mitigating action. Still further,alerts and indications of critical alarms/events are able to becommunicated simultaneously and/or in a timely manner upon theiroccurrences to both personnel within the hazardous environment viavisual sequences as well as to personnel located in protected areas viacommunication networks 302, 312.

Moreover, when one or more of the networks 312, 302 is down, degraded,or sub-optimally operational, personnel located within the hazardousenvironment 300 may nonetheless be informed of any faults, failures,errors, and/or sub-optimal performance of the network(s) that aredetected by the luminaire 301. Moreover, personnel located within thehazardous environment 300 may also may be informed of any other types ofalerts and/or conditions or events pertaining to faults, errors, andother conditions of components/operations of the luminaire 301 itselfeven though the network(s) 302, 312 are not operational or aresub-optimally operational. This benefit is particularly advantageousduring the commissioning of equipment within the hazardous environment300, as the luminaire 301 is able to communicate on-board and/or networkissues that are detected by the luminaire 301 to personnel locatedwithin the hazardous environment 300, even when portions of thenetwork(s) 302, 312 and/or other equipment of the hazardous environmenthave not yet finished being commissioned.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion.

A portable computing device, such as the device 332, which may operatein conjunction with embodiments of the hazardous environment lightingunit, light lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire disclosed hereincan be any suitable device capable of wireless communications such as asmartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a wearable orbody-borne device, a drone, a camera, a media-streaming dongle oranother personal media device, a wireless hotspot, a femtocell, or abroadband router. Further, the portable computing device and/orembodiments of the disclosed hazardous environment lighting unit, lightfixture, or luminaire can operate as an internet-of-things (IoT) deviceor an Industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) device.

Certain embodiments are described in this disclosure as including logicor a number of components or modules. Modules may can be softwaremodules (e.g., code stored on non-transitory machine-readable medium) orhardware modules. A hardware module is a tangible, non-transitory unitcapable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain manner. A hardware module can include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured (e.g., as aspecial-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gate array(FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) to performcertain operations. A hardware module may also include programmablelogic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within a general-purposeprocessor or other programmable processor) that is temporarilyconfigured by software to perform certain operations. The decision toimplement a hardware module in dedicated and permanently configuredcircuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured bysoftware) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

When implemented in software, the techniques can be provided as part ofthe operating system, a library used by multiple applications, aparticular software application, etc. The software can be executed byone or more general-purpose processors or one or more special-purposeprocessors.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs for ahazardous environment lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire thatcommunicates alerts and/or detected conditions and/or events via visualsequences through the principles disclosed in this disclosure. Thus,while this document illustrates and describes particular embodiments andapplications, the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the preciseconstruction and components disclosed. Various modifications, changesand variations, which will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart, may be made in the disclosed arrangement, operation and details ofthe method, and apparatus without departing from the spirit and scopedefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment,the luminaire comprising: one or more drivers coupled to one or moreillumination sources; one or more processors coupled to the one or moredrivers; one or more memories storing a set of computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe luminaire to: detect an occurrence, within the hazardousenvironment, of a particular event included in a plurality of events,the particular event being a failure, fault, error, or sub-optimalperformance of one or more components or run-time operations of theluminaire; determine a particular blink sequence identifying theparticular event, the particular blink sequence included in a pluralityof blink sequences; and cause the one or more drivers to energize theone or more illumination sources in accordance with the particular blinksequence, thereby causing the luminaire to generate a visual sequenceindicative of the occurrence of the particular event; and a hazardouslocation enclosure in which the one or more illumination sources, theone or more drivers, the one or more processors, and the one or morememories are disposed.
 2. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein: theluminaire and a computing device are coupled via a communication link;the set of computer-executable instructions is further executable tocause the luminaire to transmit, to the computing device via thecommunication link, an electronic signal indicative of the occurrence ofthe particular event; and the electronic signal further includesrespective identifications of the one or more components or run-timeoperations of the luminaire.
 3. The luminaire of claim 2, wherein thecommunication link is a wireless communication link.
 4. The luminaire ofclaim 1, wherein; the particular event is a first particular event andthe particular blink sequence is a first particular blink sequence; andthe set of computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the luminaire further to: detect an occurrence,within the hazardous environment, of a second particular event of theplurality of events; and cause the one or more drivers to energize theone or more illumination sources in accordance with a second particularblink sequence identifying the second particular event.
 5. The luminaireof claim 4, wherein: the luminaire is communicatively coupled to asensor; and the second particular event is a detection, by the sensor,of a motion within the hazardous environment.
 6. The luminaire of claim5, wherein the detected motion is an unexpected detected motion, and theset of computer-executable instructions is further executable todetermine that the detected motion is unexpected based on at least oneof a source of the detected motion or a time of the occurrence of thedetected motion.
 7. The luminaire of claim 4, wherein the secondparticular event corresponds to a diagnostic or maintenance operation ofthe luminaire.
 8. The luminaire of claim 4, wherein the luminaire is anode of a wireless network, and the second particular event is a loss ofcommunications of the luminaire via the wireless network.
 9. Theluminaire of claim 8, wherein the loss of the communications of theluminaire via the wireless network includes at least one of a loss of adetection of the wireless network by the luminaire, or an exclusion ofthe luminaire from the wireless network.
 10. The luminaire of claim 8,wherein: the luminaire is a first node of the wireless network; thewireless network further includes a second node that transmits signals,via the wireless network, to control a behavior of the luminaire; theone or more drivers further energize the one or more illuminationsources in accordance with signals that are received at the luminairefrom the second node via the wireless network; and the loss of thecommunications of the luminaire via the wireless network includes a lossof the signals that are received at the luminaire from the second nodevia the wireless network while a communicative connection between theluminaire and the wireless network is maintained.
 11. The luminaire ofclaim 10, wherein the second node of the wireless network is anotherluminaire.
 12. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the particular blinksequence is distinguished from the other blink sequences of theplurality of blink sequences based on at least one of a frequency, aduty cycle, or an amplitude of energizations of the one or moreillumination sources by the one or more drivers.
 13. The luminaire ofclaim 1, wherein the luminaire includes a plurality of illuminationsources, and wherein the particular blink sequence is a coordinatedblink sequence including a first blink sequence applied to a firstillumination source, and (ii) a second blink sequence applied to asecond illumination source, the first blink sequence and the secondblink sequence being different blink sequences that execute incoordination over time.
 14. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein theluminaire continuously repeats the particular blink sequence.
 15. Theluminaire of claim 14, wherein the luminaire varies, during thecontinuous repetitions of the particular blink sequence, an intensity ofthe one or more illumination sources across a range of intensities thatis less than a maximum range of intensities of the one or moreillumination sources.
 16. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein theluminaire generates the particular blink sequence during a first portionof a periodic time interval, and the luminaire does not generate theparticular blink sequence during a remainder of the periodic timeinterval.
 17. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the one or more driversenergize the one or more illumination sources in accordance with theparticular blink sequence during a commissioning of the luminaire andprior to a completion of the commissioning of the luminaire.
 18. Aluminaire disposed in a hazardous environment, the luminaire comprising:a blink sequence library stored in one or more memories and defining aplurality of blink sequences, each blink sequence identifying arespective event of a plurality of events; an alerting unit comprising aset of computer-executable instructions that are stored on the one ormore memories and that, when executed by one or more processors, causethe luminaire to: detect an occurrence, within the hazardousenvironment, of a particular event included in a plurality of events,the particular event being a failure, fault, error, or sub-optimalperformance of one or more components or run-time operations of theluminaire; access the blink sequence library to determine a particularblink sequence identifying the particular event; and instruct one ormore drivers to energize one or more illumination sources included inthe luminaire in accordance with the particular blink sequence, therebycausing the luminaire to generate a visual sequence indicative of theoccurrence of the particular event; and a hazardous location enclosuresurrounding the one or more memories, the one or more processors, theone or more drivers, and the one or more illumination sources.
 19. Theluminaire of claim 18, wherein the particular blink sequence isdistinguished from other blink sequences defined in the blink sequencelibrary based on at least one of a frequency, a duty cycle, or anamplitude of energizations of the one or more illumination sources bythe one or more drivers.
 20. The luminaire of claim 19, wherein the oneor more illumination sources is a plurality of illumination sources, andwherein the particular blink sequence is a coordinated blink sequenceincluding (i) a first blink sequence generated by a first illuminationsource of the plurality of illumination sources, and (ii) a second blinksequence at a second illumination source of the plurality ofillumination sources, the first blink sequence and the second blinksequence being different blink sequences that execute in coordinationover time.
 21. The luminaire of claim 18, wherein the alerting unitinstructs the one or more drivers to one of: continuously repeat theparticular blink sequence; or generate the particular blink sequenceduring a first portion of a periodic time interval, and not generate theparticular blink sequence during a remainder of the periodic timeinterval.
 22. The luminaire of claim 18, wherein the alerting unitinstructs the one or more drivers to energize the one or moreillumination sources in accordance with the particular blink sequenceduring a commissioning of the luminaire and prior to a completion of thecommissioning of the luminaire.
 23. The luminaire of claim 18, whereinthe alerting unit is coupled to a computing device via a wirelesscommunication link, and the alerting unit further transmits, to thecomputing device via the wireless communication link, a signalindicative of the occurrence of the particular event and an indicationof an identity of a device or component that is disposed within thehazardous environment and associated with the particular event.
 24. Theluminaire of claim 18, wherein: the particular event is a firstparticular event and the particular blink sequence is a first particularblink sequence; and the set of computer-executable instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the luminaire further to:detect an occurrence, within the hazardous environment, of a secondparticular event of the plurality of events; and cause the one or moredrivers to energize the one or more illumination sources in accordancewith a second particular blink sequence identifying the secondparticular event.
 25. The luminaire of claim 24, wherein the secondparticular event includes at least one of: a status or a result of adiagnostic operation performed at the luminaire or a status or a resultof a maintenance operation performed at the luminaire.
 26. The luminaireof claim 24, wherein the luminaire is included in a wireless network,and the second particular event is one of: a loss of a detection of thewireless network by the luminaire; an exclusion of the luminaire fromthe wireless network; or a loss of control signals that are received atthe luminaire, via the wireless network, from a controller while acommunicative connection between the luminaire and the wireless networkis maintained, wherein the one or more drivers energize the one or moreillumination sources included in the luminaire in accordance with thecontrol signals received from the controller.
 27. The luminaire of claim24, wherein the second particular event is a detection of a motion,within the hazardous environment, that is unexpected, the unexpectednessof the detected motion determined by the alerting unit based on at leastone of a source of the detected motion or a time of occurrence of thedetected motion.